LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1586, 19 December 1885, Page 2

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Tenders for the Gorge Bridge were to close to-day at noon at the Office of the Manchester Highway Board, Feilding. Showing how bad things are m Patea, ' the book debts m Taplin's estate set down ' vt £458(5, are estimated to yield only j £506. This is a sad commentary on the state of trade m the north. In our Supplement with to-day's issue will be found a complete story entitled " A Faithful Servant," from the International Masonic Review; poetry, " The Uufrnitful Tree;" a description of the preparation of the bones ot deceased Chinamen ; an interesting historic narrative, entitled ''The foundation of Melbourne," taken from the Age, and a column of miscellaneous items. Messrs C. M. Ross and Co. of the Bon Marchc, distribute an inset with to-day's issue, m which they announce the arrival of varied and extsnsive assortments of goods m all departments. They announce as a special feature that having purchased the goods at excep ional discounts they aro m a position to sell at the original , wholesale prices. The Christmas dis- ' play at the Bon Marcho is exceedingly choice and attractive. j Probably one of the largest, best assorted, and most elegant display of Christmas novelties m the stationery and fancy goods lines ever exhibited m Palmerston is now to be seen at Messrs Welch and Co.'s depot m the Square. The firm appear to have gone to great expense and trouble m procuring goods to meet the public taste, and the purchaser would m deed be fastidious who could not be suited m almost any line he chose to inquire tor. All the goods, besides being very choicely assorted, are marvellously cheap considering the excellent quality, and purchaser!] are astonished that the prices are so very little m advance of Home rates. The tastefully set out window* have attracted much attention during the last few days, and all who pass stop to admire the beautiful display within. The variety and designs m Christmas and New Year's cards are extensive and appropriate, and the display of Christmas presents cannot fail to afford pleasure to all beholders. The mechanical toy« are marvels of ingeDuity and cheapness, and books for Ctiristmas gifts are m endless supply. With such an immense and well selected stock it is not to be wondered at that business has been unprecedentedly brisk all the week. The polling for the £3000 loan for drainage and wuturworka for Petone took place on Thursday, with the following result : — At Petone : For Mm loan, 78 ; against, 2. At Wellington : For the loan, 42 ; against, 0. A Gazette notice appears of the appointment of the ne*ly-el«cted mayors of borougliu as Justices of the Peace. Lieutenant H. M. Brewer has been appointed a Captain ou the retired list, New Zealand Militia. The Gazette contain* a proclamation declnriug the Putiipuhi block of 19,290 acres m the Provincial District of Auckland, to b« a state foivut under the New Zoaland State Forests Act, 1885. T-e block is bounded by the Waiotu River and Native land toward the north, and by the K!aimatnahu River towards- the east. Hansard has just reached its fourth century of volumes. Since 1803 not a word has been spoken m the House of Parliament but has been faithfully chronicled here. Besides the actual debates from 1803, a complete net of Hansard includes the Parliamentary Innlory as far as it can ba collectod from 1066 to 18U3. Mr Ashmead Bartlett, orfe of Lord Randolph Churchill's henchmen, and a Lord of the Admiralty, lately paid a official visit to Plymouth. In the course of a conversation with the commander of an ironclad, Mr Bartlett wanted to know if the funnel was '" what they shot torpedoes with." The recant dry season m Wangtniii has had a bad effect on the postures of the district, and feed is i.lready becoming very soarce. If the drought does not speedily break up and rain com<>, many stock owner* will be obliged to fell off much of their cattle and sheep, as their land will not carry the quantity of ttock now on it much longer without rain. — Herald. Host Walkloy notifies m this issue a Christmas salutation to the Palmers ton public. Good cheer m a substantial form, and of the very belt description, j can be obtained at the Commercial, nicely packed m hampers at low pries. A «p«*cial Christmas »xcursion from Wanganui to Nelson and back is announced elsewhere by Messrs Walker & Hatrick, the agents. for the Anchor Line of steamers. It will n« at en that excursionists leaving Wanganui on Christmas Ere will get back early on Monday, and will thus have three days m Nelson without interfering with business. The return saloon t«r« will be £2, and a moat enjoyable excursion mar be looked forward to, of which no doubt • large number will avail themselves. The Her Mr Wright will conduct Divine Service at Stoney Creek Schoolhonse on Tuesday evening next, at 7. 30 p.m. The local bakeri hare been at it hammer and tongs within the last few days, and havq itnote hip and thigh one of their number, whom they blamed for playing old gooseberry with the trade. They brought him to his bearings properly m the long ran, and now he is to be hound, by agroement and penalty, not to similarly offend again. A meeting to confirm the action taken, and to discuss matters m connection therewith, is to be held this afternoon. Mr J. T. Dalrymple advwrtites for a married couple without encumbrance. Hay wat«i is a great sweetener of tin, wooden, and iron ware. In Irish dairies everything used for milk m scalded with hay water. Boil a handful of sweet hay m water, «nd put m the vessel whoa hot. At a meeting of the St. John's Church of England congregation, Napier, it was decided to lunik a new church m brick And stone to teat 1100, The amount towards the cost already guaranteed is £8000, the church to be us«d as oath, edral of the dlooese.